Greco-Roman stars headed to #WrestleUlaanbaatar in large numbers

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 - 09:32 By Eric Olanowski

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (April 12) -- A year after the Asian Olympic Qualifier and the Asian Championships split the continental talent pool, a full lineup of Asia's most electrifying wrestlers will head to the Mongolian capital looking to gain continental supremacy.

The Greco-Roman portion of the competition will feature nearly 100 wrestlers from 14 different nations – including three Olympic medalists and four returning Asian titleholders who are on a quest to defend their gold from 2021.

Yu SHIOTANI (JPN), Hansu RYU (KOR), Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) and Mehdi Mohammad BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) are the four wrestlers who departed Almaty with gold around their necks and will take their talents to Ulaanbaatar.

Shiotani will replace reigning world champion Ken MATSUI (JPN) in Japan's lineup at 55kg.

Last year, the 20-year-old surpassed all expectations in his debut campaign on the senior level. Shiotani put up 37 total points in his three matches and closed out the competition with a thrilling 17-7 technical superiority win over Uzbekistan's then-reigning Asian champion Ilkhom BAKHROMOV.

Hansu RYU (KOR) will be aiming for his fourth consecutive Asian gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

At 67kg, defending three-time Asian gold medalist Ryu is coming to Mongolia with a 10-match continental winning streak. In total, the former two-time world champion has an impressive 19-2 record at the Asian Championships and has won five medals – four of which are gold. His last loss came at the 2018 Asian Championships, where a large forehead gash forced him to injury default out of his quarterfinals bout against Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN).

He'll compete at 67kg, a weight down from his '21 title-winning weight of 72kg.

Ryu’s Asian Resume
2021 – 3-0 (gold)
2020 – 3-0 (gold)
2019 – 4-0 (gold)
2017 – 1-1 (7th)
2015 – 4-0 (gold)
2014 – 4-1 (bronze)

Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) is the defending 87kg champion. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

Although Iran is bringing is different look squad from the Olympics and World Championships, their lineup will still feature a pair of returning gold medalists from the last season.

At 87kg, fans will see the return of rising star Naser Alizadeh.

The 24-year-old is 11-2 over the last 12 months, falling only to Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) and U23 world champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (RWF) en route to bronze medal finishes at the World Olympic Qualifiers and the U23 World Championships.

Alizadeh pinned Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ), upset two-time world medalist Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB), and earned a two-point win over Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) in his senior debut and captured 82kg Asian gold.

Another Iranian looking to win a second consecutive Asian gold medal is Mehdi Balihamzehdeh. He's stepping into Iran's lineup at 97kg for the man who stole his Olympic dreams through their finals battle at the '21 Poland Open, Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI).

Balihamzehdeh is 6-1 on the senior scene, with that lone Tokyo and Oslo spot-determining loss coming to Saravi, who ultimately went on to win Olympic bronze and World gold.

Olympic silver medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) will be wrestling at the Asian Championships only for the second time. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Olympic medalists Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ), Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) and Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) will also be in action in Ulaataanbar.

Walihan, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist at 60kg, will be bumping up two weight classes to 67kg, while Makhmudov and Kim are the favorites to clash for gold at 77kg.

Makhmudov will make his second career appearance at the Asian Championships. He won gold in his home debut at the 2018 edition and if the 23-year-old superstar wants to win a second Asian gold, he'll have to knock off the two-time Olympic medalist.

In their last meeting, Makhmudov upset Kim, 7-3, to win gold at the '18 Asian Games.

This may be a continental changing of guard moment, as Makhmudov has been on a meteoric rise to the top of the world stage. In contrast, Kim has tumbled over the last year.

Since winning the London Olympic gold medal, Kim has competed in 30 events. He's finished inside the top five in 23 of those 30 events. Furthermore, he's only fallen outside of top five contentions seven times – with a trio of those finishes coming in his last three outings.

Prior to those uncharacteristic faults, Kim finished on the podium at nine consecutive events – including the World and Asian Championships and six Ranking Series events.

Zholoman SHARSHENBEKOV Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) will be the favorite to win the 60kg title in Mongolia. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Other Greco-Roman heavy hitters to keep an eye on are Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ), Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV and Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB).

Sharshenbekov, a world finalist in Oslo, is the frontrunner to win 60kg gold. This will be his third senior Asian appearance. In his first two showings, he won silver medals.

Uzbekistan will look to Bakhramov, Bakhshilloev and Assakalov to carry their hot streaks over from the Yasar Dogu. The trio went a combined 13-0 at the first Ranking Series event of the season, winning titles at 63kg, 67kg and 97kg, respectively.

Bakhramov's run to gold in Istanbul was one of the most impressive of the competition. He picked up a fall over '22 European silver medalist Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) and an unimaginable 9-0 throttling over defending world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA) in the gold-medal match.

Bakhshilloev blew through his four opponents in Turkey, including a convincing 5-2 win over European champion Morten THORESEN (NOR) in the gold medal match.

Assakalov, a long-term 87kg guy, will be wrestling in his second competition up at 97kg. The gray-hair veteran seamlessly transitioned to his new weight in Turkey, scoring big wins over European champion Felix BALDAUF (NOR) and '22 European finalist Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN).

The Asian Championships kick off next Tuesday (April 19) on www.uww.org

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Tynybekova beats Motoki again, Zhou rules 68kg

Saturday, January 13, 2024 - 00:56 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 12) -- For the last two years, Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) has begun her seasons disastrously. She suffered first-round losses in Istanbul and Zagreb in 2022 and 2023 Ranking Series events respectively.

But the world champion has begun 2024 with a gold medal at the first Ranking Series event -- winning the 62kg weight class at the Zagreb Open on Friday.

After winning her third world title in Belgrade last year, Tynybekova traveled to the Asian Games in October 2023 but finished with a bronze medal. There, she had said that a break from wrestling for some time would help her for the new season.

It appears that the break did help Tynybekova as she won five bouts on Friday albeit taking them notoriously close. After winning close bouts against Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA), Yaru WU (CHN) and Alina KASABIEVA (AIN), Tynybekova set up a World Championships rematch against Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) in the semifinal.

Unlike the World Championships final, it seemed that Motoki had a plan. She moved much quicker and remained at a distance from Tynybekova. The first point on the scoreboard came as Tynybekova was called for passivity. Motoki then added a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break.

"In the first period I wrestled passively because I was tired," Tynybekova said. "Motoki was leading 3-0 but during the break time the coach told me to wrestle actively right from the beginning to score two points and finish the match 3-3 winning on criteria."

That's what Tynybekova did. Motoki was hit with a passivity call with 50 seconds remaining. During Motoki's activity time, Tynybekova got the opportunity to hit a single-leg attack and she got exposure to lead 3-3 with 10 seconds on the clock.

"The semifinal and those six minutes seemed to be endless for me," she said. "I thought the time would never end."

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) defeated Kayla MIRACLE (USA) in the final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In the final, Tynybekova faced a familiar opponent in Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and won with the largest margin of victory in her five bouts, beating her 7-0.

"I wasn’t thinking about winning the gold," she said. "The main thing was to come here and try myself against international athletes. We knew that the strongest ones would come here to compete. The coach Nurbek Izabekov said that we should come here and just wrestle as if we were at home. It didn’t matter for me to win or lose, the main goal was to wrestle."

But compared to the World Championships, Tynybekova said that she is still recovering physically and will assess her future tournaments depending on the same.

"In comparison with the World Championships, this tournament in Zagreb was harder for me because I am not in good health now," she said. That’s why all the matches today were really difficult. [Next], I think we will be wrestling at all the Rankings Series as well as the Asian championships that will be held in our country in Kyrgyzstan."

Feng ZHOU (CHN) dominated the 68kg weight class in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

In the other Women's Wrestling weight class, veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN) clinched the 68kg gold medal after a close 2-0 win over Forrest MOLINARI (USA).

But it was total domination from Zhou in the morning session as she took out world champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) in the opening match and world silver medalist Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) in the semifinals.

Rolling back the years, Zhou showed that strong gut wrench that the Chinese wrestlers are famous for. Tosun had no answers to Zhou's grip and suffered a 10-0 loss.

Zhou was in trouble in the second bout against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) when the Polish wrestler scored a takedown with 10 seconds remaining to lead 3-1. But Zhou hit exposure with three seconds on the clock to win 3-3. A lost challenge gave her an extra point.

After beating RADHIKA (UWW) 13-0 in the quarterfinal, Zhou used the gut wrench to build a 9-0 lead against Enkhsaikhan in the semifinal before the Mongolian close the gap to 9-5. However, it did not give her the win.

Molinari was hit with two passivity calls on either side of the break which gave Zhou a 2-0 lead which was enough, along with her defense, to get her the gold medal.

In the non-Olympic weight classes, Ukraine won two gold medals with Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) clinching the gold medal at 59kg and Alla BELINSKA (UKR) winning the 65kg gold after dominating the round-robin.

Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) completes a throw on Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB). (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Alirzaev shines

In a bracket that had five World Championships medalists including world champion David LOSONCZI (HUN), Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) emerged as the best at 87kg, winning the gold after beating Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2, in the final.

After a few easy matches early on, Alirzaev was tested by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) in the quarterfinals. Alirzaev hit a big throw from par terre to lead 5-1 but Komarov got two turns from par terre in the second period to make it 5-5. Alirzaev led 5-5 on criteria thanks to the four-point technique which helped him win as well.

In the semifinal, Daniel GREGORICH (CUB) mounted a comeback from 7-0 to make it 7-7 and lead on criteria. However, Alirzaev scored a reversal with 30 seconds remaining to win 8-7.

The final saw Mohmadipiani get the par terre advantage and he managed to throw Alirzaev but failed to get a correct throw. Alirzaev blocked him during the throw to score two points, a decision which Iran challenged and lost, giving Alirzaev a 3-1 lead.

Mohmadipiani scored a stepoutn in the stepout but that was after Alirzaev was awarded a point for par terre. The final score remained 4-2 as Alirzaev won the gold.

The bronze medals were won by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) who beat Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0, while Alan OSTAEV (AIN) beat Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) via fall. Ostaev had earlier knocked out world champion Losonczi in the opening bout.

At 77kg, world silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) won the gold after Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), a world silver medalist from 2022, pulled out injured during the match.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
SILVER: Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
BRONZE: Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)

62kg
GOLD: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Kayla MIRACLE (USA), 7-0

BRONZE: Veranika IVANOVA (AIN) df. Ana GODINEZ (CAN), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) df. Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), via inj. def.

65kg
GOLD: Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
SILVER: Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
BRONZE: Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)

68kg
GOLD: Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Forrest MOLINARI (USA), 2-0

BRONZE: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (TUR), 5-1
BRONZE: Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) df. Qian JIANG (CHN), 11-6

Greco-Roman

77kg
GOLD: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) df. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), via injury (5-0)

BRONZE: Yunus BASAR (TUR) df. Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR), 2-1
BRONZE: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-7

87kg
GOLD: Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) df. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2

BRONZE: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0
BRONZE: Alan OSTAEV (AIN) df. Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), via fall

Greco-Roman stars headed to #WrestleUlaanbaatar in large numbers

Comments

Zagreb Open: Tynybekova beats Motoki again, Zhou rules 68kg